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Mergers & Acquisitions
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April 15, 2024
Ex-Autonomy Exec Testifies To Handshake Deals, Backdating
Autonomy's former U.S. head of sales testified for the prosecution Monday in the criminal fraud trial of founder Michael Lynch, saying he boosted sales figures via "quid pro quo" handshake deals with customers, created pretextual emails to cover his tracks and even backdated a deal to meet revenue targets.
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April 15, 2024
Trump Media Files To Register More Shares For Potential Sale
The newly public owner of former President Trump's social media platform Truth Social filed paperwork on Monday to issue an additional 21.5 million shares and register for resale about 146 million existing shares, including a large stake owned by Trump.
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April 15, 2024
Caterpillar Dealer Calls Keep Antitrust Claims Alive Amid Trial
A Delaware federal judge doubled down Monday on his critique of arguments by Caterpillar Inc., which asked to toss antitrust and hub-and-spoke conspiracy claims from an importer that sought to disrupt the machinery industry before it went belly up.
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April 15, 2024
Solar Power Co. Accuses Ex-Insider Of Building, Selling Rival
Delaware-chartered solar energy venture Volt Energy Utility LLC has sued a former top officer in Chancery Court, alleging that while employed by Volt, she secretly launched a competing company, contacted Volt's lenders and customers and then sold the new business to a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. for $216 million.
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April 15, 2024
Years After Args, 7th Circ. Continues Mootness Fee Attack
A Seventh Circuit panel said Monday that a Chicago federal judge improperly barred a class action objector from intervening in a suit involving controversial "mootness fees" the appellate court has long criticized, saying he failed to articulate a valid legal reason for doing so.
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April 15, 2024
Canadian Supplement Co.'s Sale Hits Ch. 15 Snag In Del.
A Delaware bankruptcy judge appeared skeptical Monday that an American judge can weigh in on a dispute over rights to Canadian assets, as counsel for a troubled nutritional supplement supplier based in Canada argued for U.S. recognition of a sale order from an insolvency court in its home country.
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April 15, 2024
Youth Sports Investment Group Bags Soccer, Baseball Cos.
Unrivaled Sports, a youth sports-focused investment group led by the owner of the NFL's Washington Commanders, NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils, is quickly building its portfolio since launching last month, with two acquisitions announced Monday and last week.
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April 15, 2024
Cleary Gottlieb Guides APi's $570M Elevator Repair Co. Buy
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP-represented APi Group, which owns contracting businesses serving industries like energy and construction, announced Monday that it has bought an elevator maintenance company in a $570 million cash deal.
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April 15, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Last week, Delaware justices mulled whether one Chancery Court vice chancellor properly voided four company bylaws — just as another vice chancellor voided one more. Fights among Truth Social investors continued, and shareholders launched new cases involving Macy's, United Airlines, and Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC and Stone Point Capital LLC.
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April 15, 2024
Endeavor Group's $13B Take-Private Deal Challenged In Del.
A Swedish bank has sued to block a $13 billion take-private sale of sports and entertainment conglomerate Endeavor Group Holdings Inc., branding the deal a prohibited minority stockholder squeeze-out tilted heavily toward large investors and insiders, including controller and global private equity firm Silver Lake.
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April 15, 2024
Freshfields Picks Up Covington M&A Pro In Silicon Valley
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is growing its corporate practice, bringing in a Covington & Burling LLP mergers and acquisitions expert as a partner in its Silicon Valley office, the firm said Monday.
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April 15, 2024
Bond Co. Asks For Life-Saving Pause On $811M Fine
Immigration bonding company Libre by Nexus Inc. has begged a Virginia federal court for more time to pay an $811 million judgment for predatory bonding practices, saying it would collapse if forced to pay before it can execute its transfer to a new owner.
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April 15, 2024
Clearlake Increases Blackbaud Takeover Bid To $4.3B
Private equity shop Clearlake Capital has upped its offer to purchase Blackbaud Inc. by roughly $500 million — bringing its proposal to around $4.3 billion — after the cloud computing software company rejected its previous buyout bid, with the firm saying the take-private deal would be the "clearest path" to maximizing shareholder value.
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April 15, 2024
EQT To Swap $500M Of Gas Assets As Part Of Divestiture Plan
EQT Corp. and Equinor said Monday that they have agreed to an asset swap arrangement that will include Equinor paying $500 million in cash for a minority stake in EQT's nonoperated natural gas assets in Northeast Pennsylvania, part of a broader EQT strategy to divest assets and reduce debt ahead of its planned close of an energy mega-deal.
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April 15, 2024
Simpson Thacher, Willkie Build $1.4B Sale Of Snap One
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP-advised Resideo Technologies Inc. on Monday announced plans to buy smart-living products provider Snap One Holdings Corp., led by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, for $1.4 billion, which will be supported by a $500 million investment from private equity giant Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC.
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April 15, 2024
Italian Cable Giant Prysmian Buying Encore Wire For $4.2B
Milan-based electric cabling manufacturer Prysmian said Monday it has agreed to purchase McKinney, Texas-based Encore Wire in a transaction with an approximately $4.2 billion enterprise value.
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April 15, 2024
Irish Nutrition Biz Agrees To Buy US Peer For Up To $355M
Glanbia PLC said Monday it has agreed to buy the U.S.-based "complementary" flavor manufacturer Flavor Producers LLC for an initial $300 million, as the sports nutrition product maker looks to tap into a growing market for organic-sourced tastes.
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April 15, 2024
BNP Paribas Buys 9% Stake In Insurer Ageas For €730M
French banking giant BNP Paribas said Monday that its insurance subsidiary has agreed to acquire a 9% stake in Belgian multinational insurer Ageas for approximately €730 million ($777 million) from Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group.
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April 15, 2024
Justices Pass On Norfolk Southern Claim To Rail Line Control
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear Norfolk Southern Railway Co.'s challenge to a 2022 Surface Transportation Board ruling that the freight railroad company can't control Virginia's Belt Line, which opened it up to an antitrust suit from rival CSX Transportation Inc. over its rate-setting.
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April 15, 2024
Dentons-Led Group 1 To Buy Inchcape UK Auto Biz For £346M
Group 1 Automotive said on Monday that its U.K. subsidiary has agreed to buy out British rival Inchcape PLC for approximately £346 million ($432 million), as the U.S. auto dealer continues its expansion into Britain.
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April 12, 2024
Real Estate Authority: RE Women In BigLaw, Q1, Proptech
Law360 Real Estate Authority covers the most important real estate deals, litigation, policies and trends. Catch up on this week's key developments by state — as well as on gender diversity rates among 20 BigLaw real estate practices, M&A and financing stats from the first quarter, and the 2024 Real Estate Technology Conference in New York.
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April 12, 2024
US, EU Antitrust Officials Agree On Much, Not Sustainability
The leaders of the U.S. and European antitrust agencies said Friday their views are broadly aligned on many competition policy issues, though they also outlined opposing approaches to companies that want to collaborate on sustainability projects.
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April 12, 2024
S. Korea Must Pay Mason $32M In Samsung Merger Fight
An international tribunal ordered South Korea to pay Mason Capital Management LLC $32 million in a long-running investor-state suit filed by the New York-based hedge fund over the 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, according to the South Korea Ministry of Justice.
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April 12, 2024
TRO Won't Save Auto Supplier From Fallout, Judge Says
A Colorado federal judge on Friday denied an auto part supplier's bid to force a business partner to follow through on an exclusivity deal, ruling that a temporary restraining order may not prevent the supplier from having to shut down a facility.
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April 12, 2024
Hedge Fund Fires Back At Hotel REIT With Proxy Contest Suit
Blackwells Capital LLC has fired back at Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. with a lawsuit against the hotel REIT and its board chair Monty Bennett, seeking a green light to move forward with a campaign to place its own candidates on the company's board.
Expert Analysis
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Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World
As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.
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Sellers Seeking Best Deal Should Focus On Terms And Price
Rising interest rates and a decline in the automotive mergers and acquisitions market mean that a failed deal carries greater stakes, and sellers therefore should pursue not only the optimum price but also the optimum terms to safeguard their agreement, says Joseph Aboyoun at Fox Rothschild.
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General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI
With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.
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Competition Considerations From Biden's AI Executive Order
In light of President Joe Biden's recent executive order on artificial intelligence and the antitrust agencies' expansive enforcement posture, businesses in the technology and related industries should expect scrutiny, and avoid interactions that could be perceived as unlawful collaborations or exchange of competitively sensitive information, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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Tips For Avoiding Disputes From M&A Earnout Provisions
Attorneys at Freshfields review key Delaware cases to outline several important considerations that may reduce the risk of an earnout dispute arising from a merger agreement and help the parties navigate disputes when they do occur.
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A Look At Successful Bid Protests In FY 2023
Attorneys at Sheppard Mullin look beyond the statistics in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s recent annual report on bid protests, sharing their insights about nine categories of sustained protests, gained from reading every fiscal year 2023 decision in which the protester had a positive result.
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Del. Dispatch: Refining M&A Terms After Twitter Investor Suit
The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Crispo v. Musk — invalidating a merger agreement provision that has been commonly used to disincentivize buyers from wrongful merger termination — should cause target companies to consider new approaches to ensure the payment of lost premium damages, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information
As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.
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Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD
Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.
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How 'Safe Harbor' Policy Will Modify M&A Processes
Legal practitioners should be aware that the Justice Department's "safe harbor" immunity will change the typical M&A process significantly as acquirers start embedding fraud detection into their due diligence, including a broader scope of examinations and interviews, says Jesse Silvertown at The Ledge.
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Earnout Contract Considerations After NC Good Faith Ruling
The North Carolina Supreme Court's recent Value Health Solutions v. Pharmaceutical Research decision, holding the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing did not apply in an earnout dispute related to an asset sale, demonstrates the need for practitioners to pay careful attention to milestone concepts in M&A transactions, says Benjamin Hicks at Wagner Hicks.
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M&A Ruling Buoys Loss Calculation Method, R&W Insurance
The recent Southern District of New York decision in Taylor Precision Products v. Larimer affirms the use of EBITDA as a basis to quantify loss, highlighting the potential shortcomings of a traditional seller indemnity compared to representation and warranty insurance, say Mark Schwartz at Lockton, and William O’Neil and Gretchen Scavo at Winston & Strawn.
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Build Or Buy: Assessing Options For Starting A New Bank
Attorneys at Nelson Mullins evaluate key considerations for deciding whether to charter a new bank or purchase an existing one to implement a new business plan, as depressed stock prices, high-profile failures and regulatory stagnation create headwinds for new banks.
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Opinion
Courts Shouldn't Credit Allegations From Short-Seller Reports
Securities class actions against public companies can extend for years and lead to significant settlements, so courts should not allow such cases with allegations wholly reliant on reports by short-sellers, who have an economic interest in seeing a company's stock price decline, to proceed past the motion to dismiss stage, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.
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Unlocking Value In Carve-Out M&A Transactions
Some of the largest mergers and acquisitions in 2023 were carve-out transactions, and despite their unique intricacies and challenges, these transactions offer both buyers and sellers the opportunity to generate outsized returns in an otherwise vigorously competitive landscape, when carefully planned and diligently executed, say Kevin Crews and Rami Totari at Kirkland.